


The Accident

by Queen_Authoress_Starcy_Hand



Series: There's More to Our World Than We Know [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Blood and Injury, Complete, Permanent Injury, Serious Injuries, old story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 17:32:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8219305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_Authoress_Starcy_Hand/pseuds/Queen_Authoress_Starcy_Hand
Summary: This story tells of a tale on how two kids suffer through unbearable pain that only their grandfather can bring to an end.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually an older story that I wrote years ago. It's not my best piece of work, but here it is. I actually edited it slightly from the original version because I left out some of the ending since it was tightly intertwined with another story I was writing at the tome. I did so so that this story could stand on its own.
> 
> I will also say this before beginning the story: the storyline that happened was that of the manga and Brotherhood, but instead of going back home with Alphonse, Ed ended up in our world. A slightly altered version of Conquerer of Shambala then happens to have both brothers in Germany at the dawn of WWII.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.

It was a beautiful day in the city of Berlin, Germany. There were a few clouds in the royal blue sky, but none were in the way of the sun. The date was August 13, 1999 or more specifically, a Friday the Thirteenth. Everyone knew this day was unlucky for anyone, but no one could tell that it would bring terrible pain to one family in particular.

Two four and a half year olds who were wearing hard hats were running around a construction site (it's amazing no one noticed them) that their mother was in charge of. Their older brother and their younger sister, eleven and three respectively, were with their mother who was talking to one of the engineers with a ninety-four and ninety-three year old men who happened to be the mom's father and uncle respectively translating between English and German for them. The two nannies for the kids, a Japanese woman and a German woman, were sitting together for some coffee.

"Kevin, where's Rose and Len?" the little sister asked her brother in English while holding onto his pant leg. She stared into his blue eyes with her brown ones, something she shared in common with the twins. He ruffled her short brown hair, something the siblings all shared in common.

"They're just playing, Sam," Kevin told her. "They'll be okay."

"Hurry, Len!" Rose yelled at the younger twin as they ran through the construction site. By the look of the two, one would think that they were identical and the same gender (some thinking female while others thought male). The only thing that was keeping them separated was the fact Rose was wearing pink and Len was wearing blue.

"Slow down!" Len yelled at her. When he caught up, they both tripped on the ground. Rose was at a sideways angle with her left arm over Len's right. Up above, a crane was lifting steel bars up higher. One of the ropes on the platform snapped causing all of the bars to start falling from that corner.

"WATCH OUT!" one of the workers screamed. All of the other workers got out of the way, but Rose and Len could not get up in time. One of the bars landed sideways on Len's right arm and leg and Rose's left arm, another landed straight down on Rose's right knee, causing her leg to be split into two while the rest miraculously managed to do no further harm. They both screamed out in pain as tears came rushing down their eyes.

" _Rose! Len! No!"_ the Japanese nanny screamed in Japanese at the two kids she was supposed to be watching as she ran up along with their mom, grandpa and great uncle.

"Hang on!" their grandpa and great uncle yelled as they slit their left hands with a pocket knife, causing it to draw a little bit from their fingers. They clapped their hands like they were praying and the grandpa put them on the bar that crushed both of them while their great uncle put his hands on the one that crushed only Rose. To the amazement of everyone, including his daughter/ niece and grandkids that weren't hurt/ great niece and nephew, the bars glowed. When it died down, they were both arcs that were over them although a bit bloody.

"IT HURTS!" the twins yelled at the same time as they continued to cry. Len's right arm and most of his leg and Rose's left arm were completely flat while Rose's right leg was almost entirely removed from her body except for a little bit of skin that stubbornly held on. Blood was pooling around them at an alarming pace.

" _Call an ambulance!"_ their great uncle screamed in German as he pointed at a random worker. The worker was surprised for a moment before running out of the crowd to do what needed to be done.

"It'll be okay," their mom told them in a heavy German accent as she cried along with them as she rubbed their backs. "It'll all be okay."

"ROSE! LEN!" Kevin screamed as he tried to run after everyone else, but the German nanny kept them back. _"Let me go!"_

" _No,"_ the nanny replied to them. _"You can't do anything to help."_ Sam then started crying and fell to the ground in defeat. Kevin realized some way he could help. He stopped his struggling and hugged his little sister in an attempt to calm her down.

The ambulance came in less than a minute (which was surprisingly fast because of all the traffic that day) and quickly got the twins to the hospital. When they got there, they were immediately taken into surgery. Rose's leg could not be sewn back on and their arms and Len's leg were too damaged to be able to heal, so the doctors got to work on amputation.

"It's all my fault," their mother cried into her hands as she, her father and uncle were sitting in a lobby.

"The past is the past, Jean," her father said as he forced her to look into his eyes. His gold eyes bore into her one gold and one blue. "You're their mother. You have to be strong for them."

"Brother's right," her uncle agreed with him as he got up and stood behind his brother. "You have to remain strong for all of your children." Jean looked away from her father.

"Edward, Alphonse!" a man with brown eyes and hair yelled as he reached the two elders, mentioning the father and uncle respectively. "I got here as soon as I could. What's happening?" Alphonse looked away while Edward looked him right in the eye.

"They're getting their limbs amputated." The man held his head and plopped down on the couch next to his wife. Jean hugged him.

"Where's Kevin and Samantha?" the man asked.

"The nannies are trying to distract them, Craig," Jean told him. "Kevin's mad as me for what happened."

"I'm not surprised after what happened when he was seven," Edward muttered under his breath. Neither of the parents noticed. At that moment, a doctor came out of the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stevens?" the doctor asked them in a heavy German accent. Both Craig and Jean stood up.

"What's going on? Are they still alive?" Jean asked the doctor as Craig held her back.

"They are still alive," the doctor reassured her. "The amputation was a success. They are now in their hospital room, but they're still asleep. You may see them if you want, but please be quiet." The two nodded as the doctor started leading them, Edward and Alphonse to the twin's room. When they entered the room, Jean almost broke out into crying again. There on two separate beds were Rose and Len. Both of their right legs were three-fourths gone and the arm they were missing was gone to the shoulder. Both were sleeping.

"Oh my…" Jean trailed off. Rose groaned as she started waking up. Craig and Alphonse went up to her with Craig holding her hand.

"Daddy? Great Uncle Al?" Rose asked in a groggy tone. "I can't feel my arm or leg." Alphonse bit his lip.

"That's because they aren't there, sweetie," Alphonse told her. She looked to her left to see bandages over her stump and shoulder. She screamed in horror which caused Len to wake up.

"Rose!" he screamed. He tried to sit up, but he failed. He looked to his right to see his arm gone as well. Tears started forming in his eyes. Rose was already crying. Edward couldn't see his grandchildren in the pain that he endured when he was a kid as well and left the room as Jean went up to them and started comforting them while fighting to keep her own tears in check.

Three hours passed before Rose and Len went back to sleep. Alphonse left the room and sat down next to Edward.

"You okay, big brother?" Alphonse asked him. Edward sighed as he took the glove off his right hand revealing a metal hand underneath.

"We went through the same pain those two are going through right now," Edward remembered as he looked at his hand and clenched his left knee with the other hand. They were his constant reminders of the life they chose and left behind. "The only difference was that we chose our path and pain; they didn't." He ran his fingers through his blonde hair.

"You might be able to help them lead a normal life," Alphonse told him. "Maybe if you let someone of this world look at your arm and leg-"

"No," Edward interrupted him as he glared at him. "We swore to keep **that** a secret. Letting someone see my limbs is not going to allow us to keep it under wraps."

"But think about it, brother," Alphonse contradicted. "Not only would you be helping them, but you would also be helping other people who lost their limbs all over the world. It would give some people their lives back and some people a chance to do things they haven't been able to do before." Alphonse then got up. "Is keeping a secret worth letting those two suffer for the rest of their lives?" He then started walking away and left Edward with his thoughts.

A few days had passed since that ill-fated day. Rose and Len were being wheeled outside by Craig and Kevin while Sam followed behind them. Both Rose and Len were looking at their lap, not daring to look up and not caring where they went.

"Mr. Stevens?" a doctor asked Craig in a heavy German accent as he walked up to the family.

"That's me," Craig answered.

"I believe we have a solution for allowing you children to be able to walk and do things like a normal kid again," the doctor replied. "You might want to go over this with your wife and children before actually doing so, though."

"I'll call her in a little bit," Craig told the doctor.

"Very well," the doctor agreed. "Your father and uncle-in-laws will also be present at the meeting." The doctor then left to check up on another patient. Craig and Kevin (who was listening in on the conversation) were confused on why they would be there as well.

About half an hour passed before the meeting got started. Everyone was there except for Kevin and Sam (they were with the German nanny). A couple of doctors were seated across from them.

"Thanks to Mr. Elric here, we might have a possibility of your children being able to walk again and do things like a person with all their limbs can do," the first doctor said. Rose and Len lifted their heads ever so slightly to look at the doctors. Alphonse looked at Edward with a surprised look on his face.

"We call them Advanced Metal Prosthetics," the second doctor said as he took a blue print of a metal leg and arm out for everyone to see. "If we're able to make them work, they will be able to convert the electrical pulses from the nerves to make the electricity necessary to power the leg and arm to move. If made correctly, it will be like they never lost them in the first place." Rose completely lifted up her head. Her face was like that of a person in major suffering. Len looked toward her, his face saying the same thing.

"Will this work?" Jean asked.

"This is brand new to us," the first doctor admitted as the second one rolled up the blue prints. "Your children will be test subjects. If this fails, there may be no way for them to have artificial limbs in the future at all."

"We'll give you time to think about this." The second doctor said. The parents thanked the doctors and rolled Rose and Len out of the room. Alphonse followed pursuit.

" _Do you think they'll go through with it?"_ the first doctor asked Edward in German. _"They're only four after all. I've never seen anyone look so defeated than those two."_

" _I know my grandkids,"_ Edward told the doctor in the same language. _"You may not have seen it, but there was fire in those eyes. It was the fire of determination I had when I was eleven. I'm proud of them."_

That night, Craig and Jean were talking to Rose and Len about what their choices were. Rose muttered something that her parents couldn't hear.

"What was that, Rose?" Jean asked.

"I'll do it," Rose said, causing the adults to gasp. "I want to walk again."

"Me, too," Len agreed with his twin. "I want the leg and arm."

"But the doctors don't even know if this will work," Craig tried to tell them to get out of this. "It might not even work. There are too many risks-"

"That I want to take!" Rose yelled back. Both parents gasped again. She was taking too much after Edward. Len nodded.

"Please," he begged his parents. The parents gave in.

"Fine," Jean told them. "I'll tell the doctor." She then got up and left the room.

Three months. That's how long it took to get the surgery ready. Kevin was sent back to the US because of school along with the German nanny and Sam. The arms and legs were also completely manufactured and tested with the cooperation of Edward Elric who had the Advanced Metal Prosthetics (which the doctors had dubbed AMP for short) for years without anyone knowing or giving the name of the person who made them.

"Today's the big day," Jean told her children as she held their remaining hand as the twins laid in their own beds. "Are you ready?" Rose and Len nodded, too nervous and scared to talk.

"It's time," a doctor told them. Two nurses then grabbed the beds and wheeled the twins to the operating room. When they got there, two doctors put oxygen masks on their faces. In a few minutes, the twins were put to sleep. Velcro was then used to strap their remaining arm, leg, body and head down in case they woke up during the surgery.

" _Let's get started,"_ the head doctor told everyone. All the doctors, nurses and the four mechanics in the room nodded. Up on the observation deck were medical reporters and doctors from all over the world learning about this new technology.

An hour passed before the hardest part of the surgery began.

" _We are now ready to attached the nerves to the female patient's arm and leg,"_ one of the doctors said from Rose's surgery.

" _Same with the male patient,"_ another doctor said from Len's bed. From both, a metal arm and leg were in the items that connected them together (which they called the ports) which were in the exact place for the exposed nerves to be connected. Some of the doctors and the mechanics held wires to make the process easier.

" _Go ahead,"_ the head doctor told them. When the first nerve was connected, two pairs of eyes shot open. Both Rose and Len started screeching in pain while fighting against the Velcro straps.

" _Sedatives!"_ one of the doctors yelled at the nurses.

" _Right away!"_ one of the nurses replied while running with another to bring a syringe to the doctors as more and the mechanics continued to hook up the nerves to the children, much to the reporters and visiting doctors dismay as they discussed the unethical and pain behind the surgery. The doctors ejected the sedatives into their blood streams, but it did nothing for their screams of agony.

" _More sedatives!"_

" _If we give them anymore, it could kill them!"_ the nurse yelled at the doctor.

" _Then put them under!"_

" _We can't!"_ the anesthesiologist told the doctor. _"With all those drugs in their system and them being only kids, any more might kill them. They just have to ride out the pain."_ The head doctor held his head in defeat as the mechanics and doctors kept connecting nerves to cables and electronic amplifiers. Rose and Len kept crying and screaming out of pain, somehow not fainting from the pain and keeping the doctors up without the aid of coffee.

Meanwhile, in the lobby, everyone could hear the screams of children, but only four knew who was screaming. Jean was crying into her hands, Craig was rubbing her back while trying to tell her everything would be okay while Edward and Alphonse looked at the floor.

"Hey, Al."

"Yeah, big brother?"

"Did I scream like that when I was getting my automail?"

"…Yes. I remember a few adults getting automail and their screaming, but to tell you the truth, I wasn't prepared for your screams, brother."

"Like I'm not prepared for their screams." Alphonse nodded.

A few hours passed before a doctor came out with news. The four of them stood up to hear it.

"The surgery was a success," he told them. They all released a breath they didn't know they were holding in. "They passed out after it was over and are now sleeping in their room. You may go in, but do not wake them up yet." The four nodded as they went into the room. They could see the two resting in their beds. Instead of the one arm and foot they got used to seeing from under the covers, they saw a shiny metal arm and foot as well as the flesh ones.

"Rose…Len…" Jean whispered.

"We used a very light but strong metal for the arms and legs," the doctor explained. "We also made it so the ports will grow along with them so no further surgeries are required unless if there is an infection or they get ripped out. Rehabilitation will most likely be painful, but if they pull through, this might be the prosthetic of the future."

" _Thank you, doctor,"_ Alphonse told the doctor in German. _"May you please give us some time with the twins?"_ The doctor nodded and left the room. When he did leave, Rose's eye lids started moving signaling that she was about to wake up. She opened her eyes and looked at her parents, grandfather and great uncle.

"Did it work?" she asked them in a hoarse. As her brain continued to return to normal functioning, she felt something cold on her left shoulder. She looked over to see a metal arm that looked a lot like her grandfather's. She focused on moving one of the fingers. To everyone's amazement, the pinkie moved. A smile spread across her lips, the small miracle giving her hope for the future.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Len said as he started waking up, rubbing his eyes with his left arm. He felt cold metal against his right thigh stub. He looked down and pulled the covers away to see a metal foot. He tried moving the toes. To everyone's increasing amazement, they moved. This gave both twins hope. They looked at each other and smiled, knowing that now they can go anything.

A year had passed since the surgery. Rose and Len (both now five) were playing on a playground with a four year old Sam and a ten year old Kevin while their parents watched from the benches.

"Those two are amazing," Jean told Craig. "The doctors said it would take them at least three years to get used to the change, but they've only have the AMPs for a year and it's like they had them for their whole lives."

"I'll be leaving soon," Craig told Jean.

"It's about the book you've written, isn't it?" Craig nodded.

"I'm to give a conference in front of the world's top doctors," he explained. "It's the book called 'The Advanced Metal Prosthetics; The Journey of Two Kids'. I'm going to try to get the prosthetics used around the world, even despite the pain of the surgery and rehabilitation. If two of our children can take the pain of the surgery and rehabilitation, then anyone can go through it."

"I have to be leaving soon, too," Jean told him. "The construction site in Cairo needs to be checked over. One of the workers got hurt in an accident with his leg, so I'm going to see if he can get an AMP for it or if it will heal on its own."

"The experience back in Germany really changed our view of life, didn't it?" Jean chuckled a little bit.

"I guess it did," she admitted. "At least Rose and Len will grow up with a semi-normal life from now on."


End file.
